This invention relates to a golf club and a head therefor, and particularly relates to a sand wedge and to a head of the sand wedge.
For many years, designers of golf courses have placed bunkers, or sand traps, around the greens and along the fairways of such courses to present hazards, or challenges, to golfers in their quest to drive a golf ball from the tee to the pin in as few strokes as possible. The bunkers typically include a fine-grain, usually dry, sand. When the golf ball lands in a bunker, the granular sand presents a surface to the ball which precludes bounding of the ball in a manner which typically occurs in the clear fairways and the greens. While the ball may roll for a very short distance after landing in a bunker, it usually remains within the bunker, and slightly burrowed in the sand.
In an effort to drive the ball from its slightly burrowed position within the sand of the bunker, a golf club referred to as a sand wedge was designed some years ago. Typically, a ball-impact surface of the head of a golf club is formed at an angle with the shaft of the club, the angle being referred to as the loft. The sand wedge is a higher lofted club compared to other clubs of a typical set of clubs and is designed to launch the ball in a high, but short-travel distance, trajectory. In effect then, when used properly, the sand wedge strikes the bunkered ball along a lower side portion thereof and literally lifts the ball from the sand and launches the ball into a high trajectory and a short distance away from the bunker.
Usually, the ball-impact surface of most sand wedges presents a solid front to the bunkered ball and to the sand adjacent the ball. Consequently, the force applied by the golfer, when swinging the sand wedge to drive the ball from the bunker, must be sufficient to overcome the back force or resistance encountered when the head of the wedge is being moved into and through the sand to effect the launch of the ball.
In the past, club heads have been designed with openings which extend through the head from the ball-impact or front face to the rear face thereof to provide less resistance from the air when the club is swung, and when the head passes through obstructions such as bunkered sand and tall or marshy grass. One example of such a club head is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 780,776, which issued on Jan. 24, 1905, and where the head is formed with a plurality of spaced horizontal or vertical slots. Examples of other such club heads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,414,124, which issued on Apr. 25, 1922, showing perforations through the head, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,508, which issued on Sep. 26, 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,455, both of which also show vertical slots.
The slots and perforations of the club heads disclosed in the above-noted U.S. patents extend in closely spaced relation over essentially the entire surface of the front or ball-impact surface, including the surface area which typically engages and impacts the ball. Effectively then, there is no sizable surface area on the ball-impact surface of the heads disclosed in the above-noted U.S. patents which provide an unfettered surface with which to strike the ball.
While essentially all golfers desire to locate the so-called xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d on the ball-impact surface of the club head, and to strike the ball with the xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d each and every stroke, it is an impossibility for most golfers to accomplish because of the many variables which occur each and every time a golfer swings a club. When using clubs with slotted and perforated heads of the type described in the above-noted U.S. patents, there is little opportunity for a golfer to strike the ball cleanly with a ball-impact surface which is not occupied with a slot or a perforation. The result could be an undesirable wayward trajectory of the launched ball.
Consequently, there is a need for a club head which will provide for the passage of air, sand and/or other impediments through the head of a club being swung while, at the same time, providing a substantial solid ball-impact surface so that the ball may be fully impacted within the playing ability of the golfer.
As further illustrated in the above-noted U.S. patents, the passages of the club head are of narrow width or diameter and are formed with generally uniform wall spacing from the ball-impact surface to the rear of the head. With such small openings, and such uniform wall spacing, it is difficult for significant volumes of air, sand and other impediments to pass into and through the passages of the head. Therefore, there is a need for passages formed in and through the club head which will enhance the flow and direction of air, sand and other impediments therethrough while not interfering with impact with the ball.
When a sand wedge is used to drive a golf ball from the sand of a bunker, the club head literally lifts some of the sand from the bunker, where the sand frequently tends to rise above, and eventually falls onto, the golfer. Thus, there is a need for a club head which will deflect some of the lifted sand and direct the sand away from the golfer.
The weight of golf clubs, and the heads thereof, plays a significant part in the use of the clubs in driving a golf ball in a desired direction and trajectory. Thus, in golf clubs having passages formed through the heads thereof, there is a need for the weight of such heads to be substantially the same as the weight of a corresponding, but otherwise passageless, head.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a golf club, and a head therefor, which will provide for the passage of air and/or sand through the head of a club being swung while, at the same time, providing a substantial ball-impact surface so that the ball may be fully impacted by the head.
Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club, and head therefor, wherein passages are formed in and through the club head to enhance the flow and direction of air and/or sand through passages while not interfering with impact with the ball.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a golf club, and head therefor, which will deflect some of the sand lifted from a bunker by the swinging of the club by a golfer, and direct the sand away from the golfer.
A further object of this invention is to provide a golf club, and a head therefor, where the weight of the head, with passages therethrough, is substantially the same as the weight of a corresponding, but otherwise passageless, head.
With these and other objects in mind, this invention contemplates a golf club having a head attached to a shaft, and further contemplates the head independently of the golf club, as set forth below.
The head, as contemplated in this invention, is formed with a ball-impact surface on a front face thereof, and is further formed with a pair of spaced, opposed side edges with each side edge having a first end and a second end. The head is also formed with a first linking edge extending between the first ends of the side edges, and a second linking edge extending between the second ends of the side edges in a spaced, opposed relation to the first linking edge. An opening is formed through the head with an end of the opening located in the front face of the head, and at least a side-to-side portion of the end of the opening extends in a direction between the spaced side edges of the head at a prescribed width dimension which is equal to or greater than the width of any other side-to-side portion of the end of the opening. The ball-impact surface is solid and formed with a side-to-side portion, which extends in a direction between the spaced side edges of the head, and has a width dimension which is greater than the prescribed width dimension. The end of the opening is located between the ball-impact surface and one of the side edges of the head.
This invention further contemplates a head having a hood formed on a front face of the head which is contiguous with a plane of a ball-impact surface of the head and which extends in cantilever therefrom within a plane of a linking edge of the head. The linking edge is an edge of the head which is farthest from the ground or sand when a ball is struck by the ball-impact surface of a club being swung in the processing of launching the ball.
This invention also contemplates a head for a golf club, which includes a ball-impact surface formed on a front face of the head and an opening formed through the head from the front face to a rear face thereof. The head is composed of a prescribed material, and includes a mass of material formed on the rear face to provide a weight of the head which is substantially the same as the weight of a comparable head which is formed without the opening.
Additionally, this invention contemplates a head for a golf club, which is formed with a ball-impact surface on a front face. The head is also formed with a pair of spaced, opposed side edges with each side edge having a first end and a second end. The head is formed with a first linking edge extending between the first ends of the side edges, and a second linking edge extending between the second ends of the side edges in a spaced, opposed relation to the first linking edge. The second linking edge is an edge of the head which is fully visible to a golfer, using a club having the head attached thereto, when the golfer is aligning a ball with the ball-impact surface in preparation for launching the ball. A mark is formed on the second linking edge to facilitate locating the head for visual alignment of the ball-impact surface with the ball.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings.